Device for destroying weeds and vegetation along right of way of railroads



Dec. 14. 192 1,610,556

I A. w. KIRKLAND DEVICE FOR DESTRQYING WEEDS AND VEGETATION ALONG RIGHT OF WAY OF RAILROADS Filed March 15, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 14,1926. P 1,6io.556

' A. W. KIRKLAND DEVICE FOR DESTROYII iG WEEDS AND VEGETATION ALONG RIGHT OF WAY OF RAI LEO QDS Filed March 15, 1926 V 2 Sheets-$1661; 2

// 6 F15- El- OOOOOOOOOO gmwmtot Patented Dec. 14, 1926.

UYET'ED SF'FTES rnrsnr FFI'CE.

ALBERT KIRKLAND, or FITZGERALD, GEORGIA, AssIenoItTo ATLANTA, BIRMING- HAM. & ATLANTIC RAILWAY GOMPANY, B. L.. Brice, RECEIVER, A. CORPORATION OF GEORGIA.

DEVICE FOR" DESTROYIN'G WEEDS AND" VEGETATION ALONG RIGHT OF WAY OF RAILROADS.

Application filed March 1926.

My invention relates to the killing. or destruction of Weeds and other. vegetation along the tracks or right of-way of railways, more particularly steam: railroads,

5 andit" has for its object toprovide a construction for the purpose which is eflicient in action and may be attached to say a steam engine or locomotive from which. may be derived the steanr that Will be directed of a locomotive with my attachment con-- 26 nected thereto and shown in side elevation; Figure 2 is a front VIE-W of. a locomotive and the attachment,- and. showing one of the side wings thereof in a partially raised position andtthe other: wing. shown inclined downwardly and outwardly;

Figure 3 is a planview of the attachmen on a larger scale than-the other views and detached from: the: locomotive; Figure 4 is a; vertical cross-section folds, enlarged scale, illustrating. manner of hinging one to the other;:

Figure 5" is a bottom plan of a portion at) of one of the connecting perforated pipes of ama-nifold;

Figure 6 is a section through one form of flexible or universal o1nt' between maul-- foldan'd steam supply pipeto permit mani fold to be raised;

In the; drawings, the numeral l desig nates, in" general, a locomotive equipped with the" usualsteam chests 2' to which be employed merely to supply the steam 0 against the weeds or vegetation for their through a portion of the middle or central: manifold and one of the side-wing. mani steam is supplied from the usual locomotive boiler, the locomotive connect ng. rods, being disconnected as the locomotive will Serial Nb; 94,841..

tothe distributing manifolds wl'iich': will" direct it against the weedszor vegetation to be killed or destroyed along the: roadway, the steam supply locomotive and its weed: killing attachment being. drawn by a rowmotiv'e with the: usualv standard equipments and coupled thereto.

To the pilot beam. and engine frame of to the steam supply locomotive there is se-- curely fastened and braced by any suitable means, a pair of forwardly extending: beams 3 which may be further strengthened in their connection to the locomotive by diagonal braces 23 extending from. the forward ends of the beams to the forward end of the locomotive, asillustrated. The beams 3 will support the steam: distributing manifolds,- preferably three in number, a central manifold 4. and two sidemanifolds 5, by suitable suspension and sustaining means, for instance, by supporting bracket hangers 6, ofwhichthere: may be'one' for each beam. The central manifold 4: is preferablyformed of a centrally disposed header '2 and lateral.

perforated: pipes 8 extending in opposite directions therefrom and: connected one: to the other at their outer ends by tie rods or plates 9'. The: side manifolds 5 are each. 59 preferably formed of a header 10: fromv which extend perforated pipes 1 1 connect ed at their outer ends by a header 12.

The central manifold 4: is supported from the bracket-hangers 6 by brackets 13' bolted 35 to: hangers 6- and having one end bolted to the tie rodsor plates 9: of: the: central. mania fold soas to support the manifold: from: the: hangers 6, the other: end of the brackets 13 being" formed. with: an eye 14 t0 receive the header of the adjacent side manifold, as shown in Figure 4:,so that the side" mani' folds are given a hinged: connection that will permit them tobe raised and lowered: when necessary or desired. Thei headers 9 10 of the side manifolds are provided, at the end's'receiving steainfromits source of supply, with: a suitable flexible joint 15*, which for instance may be a universal or ball and socket type as illustrated in Fig-- ure 6, so as to accommodate; or permitthe swinging of. the side manifolds on" their hinged supports; Steanr is delivered from steam: chests 2: through: pipes 1 6, one pipe:

from each chest, to a pipe 1'? and from said pipe through lateral pipes or nipples 18 into the headers 7 and 10 of the central and side manifolds, respectively.

Suitable valves 19, for instance globevalves, are provided where pipes 16 lead from the steam chests so as to control or cut-off the supply of steam from the chests to the pipes, and suitable valves 20, which may he globe valves, are provided where pipes 18 deliver to the heads of the manifolds so that the supply of steam to headers may be regulated and if desired be cut-off from one or more of the headers and thus give complete control of the supply of steam to the manifolds to meet the conditions and requirements that may at the time exist. For the purpose of actuating the valves 20, a handle 21 extends from each valve to a point at or adjacent to the platform 22 for the operator so that the valve may be conveniently manipulated or operated from the platform.

For the purpose of lifting one or both of the side manifolds to avoid an obstruction in the path of travel of the locomotive and its manifold attachments, or for other purposes, a Windlass, one or more, is connected by a cable to tl e side manifolds. As illustrative of this feature, there is shown two windlasses from the drum 24; of which provided with a crank-handle extend cables 26 attached to the side manifolds so that by means of the Windlass either or both side manifolds may be lifted to pass obstructions, or lowered to a position such as indicated at the left of Figure 2 to direct the steam jets against the growth or vegetation to be destroyed. If desired, there may be suitably supported above the top of each manifold a covering or canopy 26 to more or less confine the escaping steam beneath the canopy although permitted to escape beyond the sides of the manifolds.

Under the construction devised the predominant feature is an attachment for the purposes, comprising a frame carried by and supported from the pilot beam of a locomotive of standard type, the steam delivery manifolds being carried by said frame, and the headers of the manifolds connected to the superheated steam chests of the standard type locomotive. 'lhus is obviated the necessity of a special wheel structure for coupling to a separate drawing or pulling locomotive, and also the necessity of a special wheeled structure equipped with steam generating means and to be coupled to a driving locomotive. The attachment makes it possible to use a standard type of locomotive with the steam distributing manifolds connected up with the steam chests such as the standard locomotives are equipped with, and from which standard parts the customary connecting rods may be disconnected as the locomotive carrying the attachment will be coupled to a driving locomotive when the locomotive with the manifolds supported therefrom is to be moved over the road tracks for killing or destroying weeds or vegetation along the rightof-way of the road. Other features of novelty consist in the special features of construction illustrated for ellicient working of the attachment.

With an equipment such as described, superheated steam is taken from the steam chests of standard type of locomtive and projected in jets or streams from the perforated pipes of the manifolds against the weeds or vegetation between the rails of the track and also outside of the rails along the road-bed with the result of killing or destroying the vegetatioii so as to clear the right-of-way from such growth.

To prevent unnecessary or consumption of steam where less steam is required at some parts f the roadway than at others, for instance where the vegetation growth is less dense between the rails than to the sides thereof, or denser at one side than elsewhere, the supply of steam to the selected header may be cut-off or lessened by manipulation of the valve or valv in the pipes leading to the manifolds and thus the steam be supplicd in the vohune or quantity desired to the manifold or manifolds needing the same and thus conservation of steam effected. if there be an obstruction along the side of the road-way that needs to be passed without (la-mag the side n'ianifolds, or if it be desirable to Present the side manifolds at a greater or less inclination, the side n'ianifold may be lifted by the windlass and cable connection as clearly indicated in lligure 2 of the drawing. lt will be observed that the manifolds and frame from which they are suspended constitute practically a unitary structure specially adapted for attachment to the pilot beam of a locomotive of a standard type without providing a specially constructed wheeled structure for carrying the manifolds.

It will also be observed that the manifolds and their supporting frame have been designed with the view of affording the maximum of strength with the minimum number of parts, and making it possible for the operating attendant to take his position on the platform at the top of the supporting beams s to have the parts under con stant and full observation and for prompt manipulation to meet changing conditions.

While the preferred details of construc tion of the various parts have been illustrated and described with particularity, itis to he understood that changes may be made in the several parts, or some of them, with out departing from the essential features of the invention as soughtto be defined in the appended claims.

Having described the invention and set forth its merits, what I claim is 1. A device for destroying weeds and vegetation along a railroad right-of-way, comprising an overhanging forwardly projecting frame supported from the pilot-beam of a locomotive, steam manifolds suspended to hang from and below said frame and consisting of a central manifold and side manifolds hinged thereto, the central manifold lying beneath and the hinged manifolds lying to one side of said frame, pipes connecting a header of each manifold with steam chests of the locomotive, and valves positioned in each pipe supplying steam from the locomotive steam chests to the header of each manifold for controlling the supply of steam to each manifold independent of the other manifolds.

2. A device for destroying weeds and vegetation along a railroad right-of-way, comprising oppositely disposed overhanging forwardly projecting means supported from the pilot-beam of a locomotive, hangerbrackets supported from and depending below said beams, a centrally disposed and side steam manifolds supported fromthe bracket-hangers, the side manifolds being hinged along the adjacent sides of the central n'xanifold, pipes connecting steam chests of the locomotive with a header of each steam manifold, and a valve in the steam supply pipe of each manifold header to control the supply of steam to each manifold independent of the other manifolds.

3. A device for destroying weeds and vegetation along a railroad right-of-way, comprising beams supported from the end of a locomotive, bracket-hangers supported from said beams, a centrally disposed and side steam manifolds, brackets carried by the bracket-hangers and having, the centrally disposed manifold connected thereto and one end formed with an eye to hinge the side manifolds to the brackets, and pipes con necting headers of the manifolds with steam chests of the locomotive.

-l. A device for destroying weeds and vegetation along a railroad right-of-way, comprising beams supported from the end of a locomotive, bracket-hangers carriedby the beams, a centrally disposed steam manifold and side disposed hinged steam manifolds supported from the bracket-hangers and each having a. steam-supply header, pipes connecting steam chests of the locomotive with the headers of the manifolds, a flexible joint between said pipes and the headers of the side manifolds, a valve in each pipe supplying steam to the header of each manifold, and means for operating each valve from a point adjacent the supporting beams for controlling the supply of steam to each manifold header independent of the other manifolds.

5. A device for destroying weeds and vegetation along a railroad right-ofway, comprising beams supported from the end of a locomotive, brace-rods connecting the outer ends of said beams with the end of the 10- comotive, bracket-hangers supported from said beams, a centrally disposed and hinged side steam manifolds supported from said bracket-hangers, pipes connecting steam chests of the locomotive with the headers of the steam manifolds, valves in said pipes for controlling the supply of steam to the sev eral manifolds, and means supported by the beams and connected with the hinged side manifolds for elevating the manifolds.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ALBERT WV. KIRKLAND. 

